Harvest Lane Cottage

Oyster crackers or butterfly? It's all how you look at it.

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." ~Psalm 55:22 Have a God focused week. He loves you. Monday Mom's the Word   -  Good Morning Monday  

Unending mending piles.   Why oh why do we let them pile up?  Often, our little mending projects pile up simply because we procrastinate.   Instead of stitching up a tiny hole or tear, we wait until we have a full sized rip.  We go without a favorite blouse, pair of jeans, or dress, sometimes for months, because of a lost or loose button.  We don't actually need hours for mending.  Most mending is rather simple.  Most projects take only a few minutes if we catch the problem while it's small.  If you have an unending mending pile, first go through and see if anything just needs to be thrown away.  You might be surprised to find your pile a bit less daunting! Next, make two piles.   One pile is handwork.  This would include buttons, small seams or rips, loose hems, anything you can do with a needle, thread, and a little time.  The other pile is for machine work.  This might include...

"Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32

Well, I have nothing to show for the Friday Night Sew-In.  What happened?  I went to the linen closet where I keep my sewing supplies.  As I was looking for the bag that has my jelly roll and pattern in it, I saw the basket of mending.  I was reminded of a story that Fly Lady recently sent out about a lady whose adult children helped her declutter her mending basket while she was mending clothes.  They finally got to the bottom of the basket and found their father's swimming trunks.  Nothing strange about that except that he'd been dead for 20 years!  I couldn't face that basket.  So, I took it to the sewing table and got busy.  Then, I curled up in bed with a Debbie Macomber story on mp3 and my Diet Pepsi.  I finished my handwork while relaxing in my cozy warm bed.  The basket is empty!  Mended: 3 dresses 2 skirts 1 shirt, and 1 pair of jeans Give-away bag: 1 dress Trashed: 1 sweater too shabby to fix or...

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." ~Psalm 46:1

Tonight's the night! I'm going to get supper made early, the mess cleaned up; and then, I'm going to set up the sewing machine and get busy.  I've got a bottle of Diet Pepsi in the freezer getting icy cold.  I've got cappuccino mix and French Vanilla creamer to put in it.  Now, I just need to see if my daughter wants to make some cookies! Don't tell my husband; but, I think I'm going to work on the apron that he gave me the supplies to make two Christmases ago!  It's about time! Thanks for giving me permission to set aside a block of time to work on it, Heidi! 

Mittens for Momma I love my Knit Picks cables and needles.  I'm knitting this pair of mittens with size 5 nickle plated needles that I borrowed from my friend Kate, anxious dog, on Ravelry.  I have ordered my own 5's from Knit Picks.  I just cannot say enough good about their company.  Their customer service is absolutely excellent! Tonight, the kids are going to watch Karate Kid.  I'm going to listen to a mp3 of a story by Debbie Macomber.  I think she's my new favorite author.  I discovered her through knitting.  She wrote a book about charity knitting patterns.  I found it in my library.  I was curious to see what her writing was like.  So far, it's been nice and cozy.  Clean and fresh stories about boy meets girl with a bit of Heaven thrown in.  Well, if I'm going to get any knitting time, I'd better get busy. God bless! Laura

I was the very happy winner of a set of stitch markers from Julia from Just One WIP .  She's from New Zealand; what an exciting thing to get a package from the other side of the world! And what a package!  I love stitch markers that she custom made just for me in my favorite color-- red! She even made me some with the letters of my name.  I can work on two WIP if I want to. ~happy~ Unfortunately, my flash wouldn't work on my camera this evening.  I do hope that you can see what lovely work she does.  Do go and visit Julia's blog .  She has all kinds of neat knitting things like sock blockers and yarn swifts.  She also does custom knitting.  You all know how I feel about homemade, handmade, heartmade things! Yes, I love them.  Do pay her a visit! THANK YOU JULIA! I am enjoying the gift! It's going to be cold, wet, and snowy here for the next few days.  I hope to fit in a bit of knittin'. Happy today! Laura Learning Cont...

Amy's mittens only took a few days. I used Yarn Bee's Melody Bulky Blend  in the Floral Blend. You can see more details on Ravelry.  I am harvestlanelaura. These were much easier to make than the other two pairs.  I think there are two reasons.  First, I used a bulky yarn; therefore, I didn't cast on as many stitches.  I used 24 instead of 40.  Next time, I would use 30. Secondly, I've made the mittens twice already.  Third time's a charm.  Enjoy Amy!

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 Thank you God for making it possible for us to purchase a car. 2002...what a blessing! 

 I'm almost done knitting kitten mittens.  I've had so much fun, I think I'll make some for myself as well.  Hubby gave me a gift certificate to Knit Picks.  I ordered some hollyberry washable wool for my mittens yesterday along with some sock needles and a few other items.  When I'm all done with mittens, I will probably make a hat for Amy with the leftover yarn.  I bought two balls; but, I really only needed one.  Mittens for Kitten Number One...Emily.  She wore them in the snow yesterday and said they were very warm.  Thanks sheep! Mittens for Kitten Number Two...Michael Mittens for my third little kitten, Amy are on the needles.  I just used the kitchener's stitch to close the finger tips of the first mitten.  I'll close the second later this afternoon.  By tomorrow afternoon, I hope she'll have thumbs, too.  I don't think the snow's going anywhere.  It's coooooold out side! I think I...

"Call upon me in the day of trouble:  I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." ~Psalm 50:15

I have a new year's goal. I want to spend time each day stitching through my stash. I have two small boxes of fabric, four or five skeins of yarn, and a few patterns I want to use up this year. To keep me going, I'm going to post about my progress. I may even set up a list in my sidebar to show finished projects and/or works in progress. I'm so excited; I should get my sewing machine back from the shop this week. It turns out that the timing is off. It's going to get a good cleaning and have the timing reset. Thank you, Dad! Soon I'll be ready to stitch through my stash! Anyone want to join me? Laura Stitchin' Through my Stash 2011